Mechanical movement



Sept. 1,1925. 1,552,397 l W. D. EDWARDS MECHANICAL MOVEMENT Filed Sept.. 23, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet l Fig. 3

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' W. D. EDWARDS IECHANICAL MOVEMENT Filed sept. 23, v1922 4 sheets-sheet s sepf. 1, '1925.' 1,552,397

w. D. EDWARDS MECHAHICL MOVEMENT' Filed sept. 23. 1922 sheets-sheet Patented Sept. 1, 1925.

UNITED@ sfr Ares WILLIAM D. EDWnnnso'rfMnMifnrs, rENNE'sslEi-z, Assiefnonon"o"'1\TE- H'AI'.vr` To' LUCY W. nnWAn'ns,l or Mniir'rnrs," TENNESSEE."

MncHANrAL' i' MOVEMENT;

apncatinmed september 23,1922. srii'nol sduit? T0 all whomz't may concern: 1 Y

Be it known that I, IViL-LIA'MD. EDwARns,

acitizen of the United States, residing' at Memphis, countyl of Shelby, State of Tennessee, have invented a certain new. and useful Improvement in'Mechanical Movements, anddeclare the following to be a full, clear, an'dleXa-ct descriptionf'of the'sane, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to m'ake and use the saine, referencebeing had `to the accompanyingdrawings, which'form apart of thisspecification. My invent-ion has foritsobject to produce a simple and novel combination of relatively movable elements capable fof being applied in many different'fields offusefulne'ss, as, for example, for' the purpose offeeding materials in' themanner of endless conveyors; feeding and at the Sametime agitatingrmaterials so as to "permit work to be done on them or permit` a separationo'f particles or elements of different characteristics.during the feeding operation; L or of producing 1 a tractive veffort. if the working VVsurfaces' are` rested uponv thet ground or other support, instead 'of serving for a support for materials to be fed.

afterbe pointed :out with vparticularityfin the claims; but, Vfor a full understanding of my invention and of Iits 'objects and, advantages, reference Vmaybe had to the following detailed description taken in" connection withV the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure l is a plan view of'av tray forming:

Y oneof the elements of a'device o-r apparatus arranged in accordance with one form of my invention;

Fig. 2'isa. side elevation andfFi-g; San end elevation of the tray shown in Fig; l;

Figt vis a top plan view. and Fig; 5 an end elevationof two of thetra'ys illustrated in Figs. l to 3 inter-connected;

,Figi 6 is a perspective view of the trays in Figs.`v 4L and 5 mounted'on suit-able supporting means and provided with suitable actuating mechanism;

Fig; 7 is aV perspective view of 'still an- (other formofmafchine wherein materialis adapt-ed to be fed downwardly from one level to another and back and forth along such levels;l

Fig; 8 is a Viewl partly in elevation partly' in section of a dryer .to which my invention is applied;

Fig. 9 is a View partlyinl elevation and partly in section of a machin'e'for continuously cooking commodities and Vgradually feeding them from'a'n inlet point toan'outlet point, arranged in accordance with the present invention;` v

Fig; l0 is a perspective View of a machine arranged. in accordance with a still further mo'dilication off my invention, whereby material may be fed1`alongatr0ugh or the like by means .of aytype of hoeing operation; and

Fig. '11 is a perspective View of afmachi'ne operating according to the principles of Fig.

l0, adapted to feed material downwardly from onel level to another. I

In the form Iof my invention illustrated in Figs. l to 6, inclusive, I make use of, two

similar trays, each 'composed vofY a plurality ofv parallel barsl, supported 'by' means of short posts or standards '2 from cross pieces 3. The bars are yspaced apart from each other distancesV greater Athan 'the thickness Vof one of the bars, yso that two of the'trays lmay be placedftogether with the bars. of oneV :lying between the b'a'rs ofi-the other'; the y The variousfeatures of noveltyiwhereby my invention is characterized`willherein-' cross pieces being-*so disposed thatall of the each other. Injthe. arrangement shown, the

gtwo'rtrays are alike, each being; provided with two cross pieces spaced unequally Ifrom the ends. of the tray. In b-uildingthe twoE interlocked'trays one, is arranged as though it had been turned iend forend, thus bringing the"v cross piece nearest one end, thereof opposite/that end of the' other tray where the spacingfof a'crss piece from the end is greatest. VThe interlocked traysv may be mounted on suitable base or support 4, as shr'awn inf'F1g:;6 each ,endofeachi cross piece being p-ivotally:connected to the vupper end of an approximately;.verticalv strut The twostruts' on the saineside and at the same end of thefcompound tray yare ,pivotally connected at their lower ends; to Aopposite endso-f' a' lever 6, pivojtallyQconnected to l the supporting base or; frame atl .the` middle,

as indicated at 7.. The "arrangement 4:is such that when the levers Yare@Oscillated, ,all of the struts thatsuppolt Qile of the two trays are moving vupwardly;while the Vother struts are movingdownwardly. In other' words,v

14, arranged near the ends thereof. Y of the cranks 14 is connected to the second by oscillating the supporting levers in unison, the bars of each tray alternately rise and fall, so that one set of bars projects above what may be termed a neutral plane and the-n dropsA below that plane, while the Y other set of bars is dropping below and then rising above such plane. lt will` be' see-n that if each set of bars is caused to Vmove in the direction of its length, say toward the left, as viewed in Fig. 6, while it remains above the neutral plane, and to vtravel in the opposite direction while remaining below the` neutral pane, the effect on an object placed on the compound tray will be, that iirst one of the trays lifts the object and carries it toward the left, and finally deposits it 0n the bars of the other tray, these vin proper time relation, an object will be moved along the compound tray with a step by step movement. The oscillation of the levers and the reciprocation of the trays may conveniently be produced by means of a crank shaft 8 placed at one end of the supporting base. At each end of the crank shaft is a crank 9 which is connected by a link 10 to an extension of the nearest of the levers 6, with the result that as the crank shaftis revolved the two levers at that end of the apparatus Vare oscillated` iii unison witheach other.

same side of the apparatus orinachine mayk The two levers on the be connected .together in an i suitable way so as to operate in unison with eachother. ln the arrangement shown, each lever has atrthe middle an upwardly' projectingarm 11 fixed thereto. The ends of the two arms 11 on `the same side of the machine are connected together by a rod l2. Consequently,

when the crank shaft is rotated, all four of *y the ipporting levers are oscillated in unison with each other and through like angies. A connecting rod 13 extends between eac-h crank 9 andthe upper end of the nearest supporting strut 5 so that as the crank revolves, these two struts are oscillated about their points of connection with thev corresponding supporting levers, causing one of the trays to reciprocate. The crank shaft is provided with two other similar cranlrs Each strut on the. same side of the machine by means of a. rod 15. rlhe cranks 9 and 14 are oppositely disposed, so that when one of lthe trays is being drawn toward the left,

the other is being pushed toward the right. It will be seen thatthe movement of one tray isprecisely thesame as that of the other, the timing being such, however, that one tray lags half a cycle behind the other. lt will further be seen that the movement of any given point onany one of thel trays is in the path whichtalies the form of anl ellipse` lying in the plane at right angles to ythe plane of the trays, the long axis of the ellipse being parallel with such plane. rlhe bars are so proportioned that the long axes of the in'iaginary ellipses all lie in what may be regarded as the neutral plane, which is the plane of the upper faces of all the bars when the. trays are shifted to bring suc-h faces into a common plane, which is the position which must exist when the load is being transferred from one set of .bars which is starting down Vand back to the other set of bars which is going up and starting to ravel forward.

lt will be understood that one tray or` set of bars may be held stationary with the upper surface thereof in the neutral plane, while the other tray or set of bars may be moved as heretofore described. In this case u tionary tray, will remain there until the moving bars have completed that half of the travel which takes place underneath the neutral plane. In Fig. 7 l have shown an arrangement in which one of the elements of the compound trayV is stationary, and have also shown other modifications, which permit material to be fed Yin one. direction, then deposited to a second compound tray and fed in the opposite direction, and so on indefinitely.

Referring to Fig. 7, A is a movable tray of the kind heretofore described, and B is a similar tray which is held stationary. Four such compound trays are illustratedgli and B being the uppermost compound tray, C and D the movable and stationary elements of the second tray arranged below the upper tray, E and F being the movable and stationary elements of a third tray arranged below the second tray, and G and l-l the movable and stationary elements of a Vfourth or lowe-rmost tray.` All of the. stationary trays may conveniently be mounted on al stationary upright frame member 20. In this connection it should be notedV that Fig.

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7 shows only one end of the machine and thesupporting mechanism for only one side of the trays.` rlhe supporting means will of course be duplicated at the other end,

which is broken awa and at the other side;

The rst and third movable trays, A andv E, are attached to a vertical piece 21, while the second and the fourth movable trays, C and Gr, are attached to a vertical piece 22. The members 21 and 22 are hung from the piece; and thelinl'26 hungifromthe other end of the leverlandlpivotally connectedjat its' lower end' tollthe lv ertical piece` 2,2' at point near' thelovv'er` end' :.oif'the latter,l supporting the piece 22;',v Itfwill be seen that when the lever 23j'is'i'os`cillated oneof the vertical pieces will lmoy'e upf'vvhile the other is moving' doWn.' In' other` vvords Whi'l the firstand third movable trays are travel-T ing down, the second" and mfourthf` movable trays are traveling in the 'upward direction. It novir the movable trays" be reciprocated in the direction oftheir lengths,y so that the iirst and third trays' move in one direction, While the second'fand fourth trays jmovegin the opposite direction', fa progressive feeding movement; from'the rightftovvard :the left, for example, may ybe obtained ifory material carried', bythe first,Y and third trays, While asimilar movementf'of material on the "other tWo trays from'the left'toWardtl/ie right maybe obtainedf" Then", by dispbsi'ng fthe trays i so thatv when the material yreaches' the leitt'hand endfof'the upper tray it drops to the second tray, andth'usfdrop's rmwon'e tray to the other throughout theentire series, an object or material to fbe -fed lor carried Will be placed l"on thelright hand Vzend, of the upper tray, and will finallyk bev discharged at the right hand'l end of the` lqivermost tray. The actuation of the suppbrtingever andthe reciprocat'irlf Ol the mbvabl'e 'tray elementsimayv be brought 'about by theus'e of a crank shaft, indicated conventionallyyat 27, the crankor crankfpinbeing' indicated at 28. One e-nd of thevlever 23 is' extended and is provided with aslotted'portion29 fitting'v over the Acrankx p in y As" thecrank shaft revolves, the leverl'willbe rocked up and down. Therecipro'cation offthe trays may belbrou'ght aboutby providing a long rockinglever 30', the 'upper endo,l Which has a`sl`otted'end 3 1 iittingv over the crank pin, While thel lever is 'connectedf` at intermediate points with the yvertical supporting pieces 21 and 22.`r In thearranlgementfshoyvn,

.the pieces 2i indagare ieaneetdiogether at their upper and jlowery ends, respectively, by means of'link'is'j2 and 33, While themember 22 is connected to the rocking` lever 30 in any suitable Way,ras, for example, ',by means of tivo diverging'ro'dst and 35 fastened'at their meetingpoint to the rocking lever, and at'theii" otheiiends to `separated points on the member 22 lying'respectively abovey and belovvv thepivotal Aconriect'ion v36 between the supporting' link 26 andthe member 22. Consequently, asf the clrankfshait revolves, the Vsupporting 'members' '21 and22 are; .alternately raisedaii'd" lovvere'd, andare lreciprocated in unison yin the direction oi the length' :o'flthe trays.` The result is tthateac'li point i on;z each movable trayl describes' the elliptical path heretofore explained." At the middle'ot the' lever 23 'is' 'ii'XedaiarinB projecting'at right angles'thereto.'L Aircon`l` nlecting rod 38 extending from the free end otthis armfto the freewend ofthesimilai armat *the opposite en'd of thefmaehine causes'the same movements toy ltalre place at thfe'opposite end fas at the end illustrated;

If thematerial vwhich lis 'beingfed is' "fin`3J or contains fine particle-swhich would fbeapt to falljdoiifntbetiveenthe bars of: the trays, each compound tray' may be'coveretbxvi'th anendless belt ofV clothor'linewire mesh, vas indica-ted at 39, Without interfering -ivitlrthe feeding operation," because the'tbel't itself will be fedwstep by step y'with theJ material.

In Fig. 8 Iv have illustrated my invention as developed jin Figf 7., as ap'pliedfto ya dryer, in" ,wvh'ic-h'ythe'mechanism' is confined in a lioiising a0 lhaving at one end a hopper A1, intoovvhichth'e materia'lis fed, an'dfhaving atfthez bottom, at the same end,"a discharge outlet'l.' In the opposite'endof thehoisf ingr is va suitable vv faiimbloiver 42,.:v Four sets oftrays, as' shownfin" Fig. 7 areemployed, the onlyditierence beingthatintFig. 8 the traysl are shown inclined,E "so as to vpernjiit gravit-y to assist thev ifeeding'j mechanism. The moiytable elements jofthe tour tra-ys are indicatedjat K,hl, wC) andQ,V respectively, While the Astationary elements are `indicated atInN, P and R,A The actiiatinfgtmechanism cated i 'the tivol lends of the mach'iiiefwith the single' enceptionr that tivo" parallelfconnecting'frods and 44 arefarra'ngd between the vertical :rocking lever 30 and t the A suppo'rtingV piecev 22, instead of thetivo converging'irods landjl in I In Figv) I haife shown thefenibodinifent the invention contained gin Fig.l `7` as applied toa` continuous cooker." In this" machine Athere is aclosed housing/'50 havingaf steam inletl'and al steam or Water outlet 52. In

the' housingvr are two ycompound traysfarranged one'above' the other, the'upper tray consisting ot va movable element S vand a stationarytray element T, Whlil'efthe'iloiver after it has been cooked, is at the bottom of the right hand end. The inlet and outlet areY controlled by suitable slide valves 53 and 54, respectively. These slide valves are connected to opposite ends of a lever 55 pivotally supported at its center. The crank shaft 56, for operating the trays, is provided with a belt pulley 57, over which passes a belt which Vdrives a suitable` wheel 58, having thereon a crank pin 59. A connecting rod extends from this crank pin to the lever 55, so as to reciprocate the slide valves and control the intake and the discharge of material.

By referring again to Figs. 7 and 8 it will be seen that since the upper end of therocking lever 30 moves through greater distances than points lower down, and since the movements of the vertical supporting pieces 2l and 22 correspond to those of the rocking lever, the reciprocatory movement of the uppermost movable tray member will be greater than that of the corresponding member immediately below it, and so on through the series. Therefore the uppermost tray will feed faster than the next one, and, in the same way, each tray will feed faster` than the one below it. If the rocking lever were inverted, just the reverse condition would be true. Therefore, by properly locating the rocking lever and properly proportioning its length relatively to the length of the supporting pieces 2l and 22, a wide variation in the character of the feed throughout the entire path which the material must travel, may be obtained.

In Fig. l0 I have shown an arrangement embodying to an extent the principle heretofore explained. Referring to this figure, represents a trough in which the material to be fed lies. Above the trough is a ladderlike structure comprising side bars 66 and cross pieces 67, which are adapted to enter the trough when the ladder-like feeding device is lowered. The fee-ding device is supported from four struts 68, each of which is pivotally connected at its lower end to one arm of a bell crank lever 69, pivot-ally supported on the stationary frame 70, which also supports the trough. rthe other two arms 0j;c each pair of bell crank levers on one side of the machine are connected together' by a connecting rod 7l, so that when one of the bell crank levers on each side is oscillated, the feeding frame will be moved up and down. The bell crank levers may conveniently be actuated by means of a crank shaft 72 having cranks 7 3 on the ends there* of. Each crank is connected to an arm 74 fixed to one of the bell crank levers by means of a connecting rod 75. As the crank shaft is revolved it oscillates all of the crank levers rod 76, so that when the-crank shaft rotates,

the strut is swung about its point of pivotal connection with the corresponding bell crank lever. It will be seen that when the Vcrankv shaft revolves in the direction of the arrow, the feeding frame. will be move-d toward the left by reason of the connecting rod 76, and will be drawn'down through the action of the bell crank levers on t-he struts. 5 Vhen the crank shaft has completed a quarter of a revolution, the Vframe will still be moving` downward, but will start to travel toward the right, continuing this movement toward the right for another half revolution, after which it again starts to travel toward the left. The downward movement of the frame continues during the first half of the revolu tion, after which there is an upward movement during the next half revolution. In other words, the cross pieces on the feeding frame travel through elliptical pathsin the same way as points on the trays heretofore explained, so that during one half of each revolution of the crank shaft they are held down in the trough and are moving the materialvin the latter ahead of them toward the right, while during the other half revolution they are being held above the material in the trough and are carried toward the left, to be again forced down into the material, taking new hold on the same. The operation is therefore similar to that of a hoe with multiple blades which are pressedfdown, so that the material will be moved, drawn forward a short distance, then lifted and returned to the starting point and again inserted in the material. i

In Fig. ll I have shown an arrangement based on the hoeing principle, `in which .material is scraped from one shelf to another shelf on a lower level, and so on indefinitely, only three levels being illustrated. Referring to this figure, 80, 8l and 82 represent a group of three shelves, arranged one below the other, the shelf 81 having oneredge underlying one edge of the shelf 80 and the opposite edge overlying one edge of the shelf 82. Any desired number of such groups may be utilized, there being, in the arrangement shown, live of them. 1 Above the uppermost shelves is a scraping or ho-eing frame 83, provided with cross pieces 64e Above the second tier of shelves is a similar hoeing or scraping Vframe 85, while another boeing or scraping frame 86 is placed above the lower tier of shelves. The hoeing or lscraping frames are all connected together by means of uprights 87 rigidly fastened thereto at opposite ends thereof. The uprights are supported Von the upper ends of struts 88 which are pivotally supported at their lower ends on bell crank levers 89. Y. The two bell crank levers on the same side of theY machine are connected together by means of the connecting rod 90. At one end of the machine is a crank shaft 91, having at the ends cranks 92, of which only one is shown. Each crank is connected to an arm 93, fixed to the nearest bell crank lever by means of a connecting rod 94. Consequently when the crank shaft rotates, it moves the frames up and down. Each crank shaft is also connected, by means of a connecting rod 95, to one of the upiights or posts 87, so that as th-e crank shaft revolves, it reciprocates the frames. It will thus be seen that as the crank shaft rotates it moves the'hoeing frames in the same manner as explained in connection with Fig. 10, so that each blade travels through an elliptical path; the bars being so proportioned that the blades come down into the material at the left hand ends of the shelves and scrape the material toward the right hand ends, where the material falls over the edges of each tray to the tray beneath; the blades being then raised above the material and carried back to the left hand ends of the shelves, where they are again forced down into the material, so as to carry it forward on the next forward movement.

I have heretofore described my invention as applied to the feeding of objects or material, but in some of its forms it is capable of other uses. If, for example, the device shown in Fig. 6 were turned upside down so as to permit the trays to rest upon the ground, then, upon rotating the crank shaft, the device would travel along the ground, giving the effect of walking.

While I have illustrated and described only a few preferred forms of my invention and referred only to a few uses to which it may be put, I do not desire to be limited to the particular structural details thus illustrated and described, or to the particular uses enumerated, but intend to cover all forms and arrangements, wherever used, which come within the terms and definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim: t

l. A mechanical movement comprising two parallel members, a support, levers pivoted to said support with their pivotal axes spaced apart in the direction of the length of said members, links pivoted to and connecting said levers to one of said members, and means for simultaneously rocking said levers and swinging said links about their connections with the levers.

2. A mechanical movement comprising two members each composed of parallel bars arranged in the spaces between the bars of the other member, a support, levers pivoted to said support so as to be capable of swinging in planes transverse tol the plane of said bars, links extending between the whole of such rocking movement and reciprocating the said member connected thereto in the direction of the length of said bars so as to cause points in said bars to travel in a path forminga closed loop.

3. A mechanical movement comprising two members each composed of parallel bars arranged in the spaces between the bars of the other member, a support, levers pivoted to said support so as to becapable of swinging in planes transverse to the plane of said bars, connections between said levers and one of said members permitting that `member to reciprocate in the direction of the length of the bars and to move with the 1evers transverse tothe planes of the bars, and means for reciprocating the latter member and oscillating said levers in cycles such that each point in the latter member travels in an elliptical path.

4. A mechanical movement comprising two members each composed of lparallel bars arranged in the spaces between the bars of the other member, a support, levers pivoted to said support so as to be capable of swinging in Vplanes transverse to the plane of said bars, connections between said levers and one of said members permitting that member to reciprocate in the direction of thelength of the bars and to move with the levers transverse to the planes Vof the bars, a crank shaft having cranks thereon; and connections between said cranks and the levers and between the cranks and the last-mentioned member to cause the levers to be oscillated and the said members to be reciprocated in a predetermined time relation to each other when the crank shaft is rotated.

5. A mechanical movement comprising two parallel members, a support, levers pivoted to said support so as to be capable of swinging in planes transverse to a plane extending in the direction of the length of said members, links connecting said levers to one of said members, a crank shaft having cranks thereon; and connecting rods between the cranks and the levers and between the cranks and the last-mentioned meme loer|` to cause the levers to be oscillated and the said member to be reciprocated in a definite time relation to each other when the crank shaft is rotated.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specication.

WILLIAM D. EDWARDS. 

